February 13, 2006

Guns Don't Shoot People; Dick Cheney Shoots People

The gang that couldn't shoot straight takes its act on the road, and the most dangerous man in Washington DC shows he is also the most dangerous man in South Texas:

Vice President Dick Cheney
accidentally shot and wounded a prominent Austin, Tex., lawyer on
Saturday while the two men were quail hunting in South Texas, firing a
shotgun at the man while trying to aim for a bird, a member of the
hunting party said.

Mr. Cheney, a practiced hunter, shot the lawyer, Harry Whittington,
on an outing at the Armstrong Ranch in South Texas. Mr. Whittington,
78, was taken by helicopter to Christus Spohn Memorial Hospital, where
he was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit on Sunday,
according to Michele Trevino, a hospital spokeswoman.

The Times even provides a motive for the attempted assassination:

In 1999, George W. Bush,
then governor of Texas, named Mr. Whittington to head the Texas Funeral
Service Commission, which licenses and regulates funeral directors and
embalmers in the state. When he was named, a former executive director
of the commission, Eliza May, was suing the state, saying that she had
been fired because she investigated a funeral home chain that was owned
by a friend of Mr. Bush.

The suit was settled in 2001, but the details were not disclosed. Mr. Whittington still serves in the position.

If I. Lewis Libby had not been forced to resign, Dick Cheney would not have had to get his hands dirty with this.

Comments

No. It isn't. I wouldn't even know how to start. Gregory and Moran have to be the biggest a**holes in the country with Milbanks a close second after his wacko Olbermann appearance in orange hunting gear.

I figure every WH presser, the Reps go up another point in public opinion polls.

Autos don't drown young women, Teddy Kennedy drowns young women! Not only that, Teddy hides under mommy Rose's skirt while Arthur Schlesinger, jr. and the archdiocese of Boston cover up his transgressions against the American people!

richard mcenroe Good link-Milbank does look a partisan clown- Let them laugh now-we will have the last laugh in November. One reporter actually asked if Cheney should resign! Talk about clueless journalists-no wonder the story was given to a new reporter on the Corpus Christi paper instead of these vultures.

McEnroe
Apparently Journo 101 has made drastic changes, rule one BECOME the story and employ every tactic possible including costumes, bullhorns, yelling, tantrums...whatever it takes to deflect all interest in the original subject and ALL eyes are on you.

Hearing Dick Cheney shot someone was my own personal 9/11 moment. It was that big. And like 9/11, there was a coverup. I'm an outraged citizen, but I sleep better at night knowing that David Gregory is fighting for my 32nd Amendment Right to Know.

It's interesting that they are still blaming the victim - Whittington walked up from behind them and was "beside" them when it happened. Whittington was "at fault" only for not insisting that the party wait for him to retrieve the bird he had shot before they moved on.

Apparently, Mr. Cheney wheeled and fired his gun to the side (if not to the rear) and thats a no no. Its the shooter's responsibility to make sure no one is in the line of fire - Cheney obviously did not do so.

Moreover, the reports I heard said that they took 40 pellets out of Whittington - that seems to be too much for 30 yards away - a pattern that tight indicates a choked gun at close range.

Apparently, Mr Whitting ton and Mr Cheney are very lucky that this is just an embarrassment - a pattern that tight in a slightly different place could have killed the man.

You gotta love all the bird hunting experts popping up to tell us you don't follow the bird to the side with your shotgun. You'd have a helluva time ever shooting one that way.

I was talking to a guy yesterday that was holding forth about how they weren't real hunters because they were driving up, spotting them, getting out of the car and shooting them. He'd read a single sentence of a media report and that's sure the way it sounded to him. Seriously, he thought they just drove around, spotted them, then got out and walked over and shot them - and he was holding forth about how much he knows about quail hunting.

Anyway. Its Cheney's fault no matter what - he was behind the gun. I'm sure he knows that quite well.

And I sure as hell am glad he didn't kill the guy if for no other reason then we'd be hearing conspiracy theories about it for the rest of our lives.

Not enough information, but I doubt it's all that tight. If it's a standard load of number 9 birdshot, it'd probably have more than 500 pellets . . . getting hit by 40 indicates a fairly wide pattern with Mr Whittington at the edge. If it's a load of BB's, he'd have taken ~ 80% of the total load (and would no longer be with us). I suspect it's something in the middle, but more toward the former.

Further, the term "choked gun" is meaningless. Pretty much all shotguns are "choked"; you have to specify which type of choke (e.g., Skeet, Improved Cylinder, Modified, or Full--there are others for serious shooters) to indicate the dispersion. Besides, your contention is silly . . . if Mr Whittington had taken a full load of shot at close range, he'd be the late Mr Whittington. Here's a good depiction (warning: a bit graphic).

Well, that was interesting. I'm surprised to see a 28 GA in use . . . that's a rare gun (and usually only shot by experts). The lawyer is probably wrong about the choke, however . . . with a smaller gun you typically choose a tighter choke (to preserve range). Regardless, his conclusion is obviously flawed:

Dick came within a few inches of blowing this guy’s head off, because the pattern at 5 or 10 yards would only be 10 or 20 inches across.

A pattern 10-20 inches across that hits someone in the face, neck, and chest? Then obviously he must've caught the middle of it, eh? No, only about 10% of the shot? Tell me how that works (hint: it doesn't).

Nope, that is the news media's description. A truthful explanation happens to detail Mr. Whittington making a MISTAKE, but liberals have an intense need to ASSIGN BLAME especially if they get to assign it to Cheney.

Accidents happen, people know this, liberals have once again overshot their wad.

Are people crazy? I went to Texas Toast's link at Talk Left. One of the posters compared what happened with Cheney to Uday/Qusay shooting Iraqis in the Tigris River. I swear, the left gets loonier by the day. The local sherrif was notified. An ambulance was called to take Mr. Whittington to not one but 2 different hospitals. Some conspiracy...

Bird hunting like pheasant, partridge and especially quail is the quickdraw of sport hunting. The details available so far sound like a genuine accident to me. (Full disclosure, I actually have some frozen partridge and pheasant in my freezer).

Cheney should not have tracked and fired outside his immediate field of view, but it's an easy mistake to make hunting birds. They move fast. Knowing the position of anybody within range is very important to avoid accidents and failing to make one's presense known is a contributing factor.

Here's one to hang your tinfoil hat on. Apparently Mr. Whittington is at the center of a major eminent domain case in Austin (scroll down to "Overdue Process"). So maybe Cheney is escalating? Schmoozing with Scalia didn't work, so now he figures he has to shoot those who would stand in the way of the Bushitler McHalliburton government takings?

Aside from the usual loony-toon comments, the purpose of the post appears to be to establish that Ms. Armstrong is wrong about the distance between Cheney and the guy that took the pellet dusting. They may very well be right, although that guy's estimation of shot pattern is so heavily dependant on the shell type and equipment as to be a wild guess - as he all but outright admits.

Estimating distance like that isn't that easy and based on the account I read I suspect Ms. Armstrong was sitting in the truck while watching them - so she would have been looking at their backs from a distance and estimating distance isn't that easy in any case.

She says about 30 yards, he (the talk left guy) says more likely 10-15. Well by all means let the impeachment begin!

"A pattern 10-20 inches across that hits someone in the face, neck, and chest? Then obviously he must've caught the middle of it, eh? No, only about 10% of the shot? Tell me how that works (hint: it doesn't)."

Once again this is much ado about nothing. This must be a slow news day if this is all they can talk about. Iran started their nuclear program up again yesterday and this is all we can talk about? Sheesh!

BTW, I have spent a lot of time picking buckshot out of quail and pheasant and it's quite bothersome. And worse to bite down on the oddbits I missed.
Not that I turn dosn offerings from hunters, but it's a lot easie to work with the farm raised stuff.

"He was in stable condition after being hit with as many as 100 birdshot pellets but incurring largely superficial wounds, said Dr. David Blanchard, who briefed reporters in Corpus Christi." - Austin American-Statesman

Looks like he got hit by more of the pattern than we thought - 1/3 to 1/4 of the shot in a 28 guage shell if the info we have been reading is correct - and now Mr Whittington has had a "small" heart attack caused by buckshot lodged in his heart.

A bit more serious than we were told - it appears. It can't help matters any that the info keeps coming out in dribbles here and there - but that seems to be the MO at this White House.

Lets pray that the poor man recovers. Even us lawyers don't deserve this.

Nope - I don't want Cheney to give medical updates. The length of time in the ICU combined with the heart attack does tend to show that the shooting was more serious than we were led to believe. To paraphrase Jon Stewart, peppering is what one does to a steak. This man was apparently shot. The blame shifting to the victim is also rather distasteful.

Forgive my prejudices, but the initial non-reporting does tend to make one reach for the Reynolds Wrap - particularly because all the later reporting tends to show that the initial reports about the incident were - ummmm - understated.

SUe
Doesn't matter. This story isn't even Mr. Whittington's. It all about the left, all about their hatred, all about their intense need to place blame, all about their need to demonize the administration.

"A bit more serious than we were told". See they'll ignore the fact the man is 78 and his age alone makes it serious, always has.

Even Us lawyers don't deserve this? Deserve what? It's just stellar how the left suddenly adopts previous sworn enemies as brothers in arms whenever they sense an opportunity.

Spare us the faux solidarity Texas. Last week Mr. Whittington was just another rich, powerful, redneck Hallibuton Corny that you looked down your nose at or worse.

I'll have to remember that, Sue.
Now, dove is what I love and since we haven't them here I rarely get them. Stuff 'em with jalapenos, wrap in bacon, rub with olive oil and stick on the grill for a few minutes. MMMMMMMm

Cheney himself should make a public appearance on the matter, and the sooner the better. He should get himself with a respected national anchor — perhaps Brit Hume of Fox News — as soon as this evening to express his regret and explain in his own words what happened. He should stop relying on press aides who were not present at the accident to tell his side of the story. Not talking only feeds speculation, and aids the cause of those who want to lampoon and smear him. Let's hear from the vice president.

Now, dove is what I love and since we haven't them here I rarely get them. Stuff 'em with jalapenos, wrap in bacon, rub with olive oil and stick on the grill for a few minutes. MMMMMMMm

Gee, do you really need the dove? Jalapenos, bacon, olive oil, grill -- as Emeril would say: "Feel the love!" Seems like a cornish hen oughta work just as well, and you can get that in the freezer case at the supermarket. (Even out here in the sticks where parseley is an exotic herb we can come up with frozen squab.)

Gee Top, your NRO cite is pretty much what I said. I would love to here Mr. Cheney “…express his regret.”. I’m not holding my breath, as he has never, to my knowledge, admitted any error in the past. Remember when he said we would be “welcomed as liberators” – Has he ever taken that one back?

It doesn’t appear that anyone on the “left” was hunting with Mr. Cheney, so I fail to see how the story is about “the left”. Further, the initial reports were spun to minimize the seriousness of the incident and the responsibility of Mr. Cheney. All “the left” has done is point out that the facts that keep dribbling out don’t match the initial storyline.

Many of the jokes arising from this incident are reincarnations of lawyer jokes or Elmer Fudd ripoffs– funny when the man was just “peppered” - but no longer funny now that the man is apparently in real danger.

Further, Top, I grew up rubbing shoulders with quite a few “rich, powerful redneck Halliburton crony’s”. I still do work for some. “Looking down my nose at them” is probably the last thing I would do.

Cheney doesn't owe you an apology, even if the accident is his fault entirely. You have no idea what Cheney has said to Mr. Whittington, where the apology would be appropriate, whether Cheney was entirely responsible or not.

Cathy f--Any other bird is to big for that to taste as good.
If you can get semi-boneless quail, salt and better the inside. Mix Italian sausage meet with some cognac. Stuff the insides. Rub the birds with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh roemary. Let them sit for 30 minutes and grill.

I don't see the point of cornish game hens. They have no flavor to me.
But if you can get the small chickens, known as pouisson, we are talking tasty!
As for pheasant, saute the breasts in butter and top with a rich sauce made of all the leftover ibts of the bird. No matter what people say for some reason when you try to roast them whole the rest is too tough to eat in my experience. You can braise them though if you want to serve the whole bird. That works.

Cheney doesn't owe you an apology, even if the accident is his fault entirely.

But this is not, I repeat not, about the left. Every "story" or "press slight" is a "scandal" with the left.

I mean really seriously "Let's just be clear here," Gregory said. "The vice president of the United States accidentally shoots a man, and he feels that it's appropriate for a ranch owner who witnessed this to tell the local Corpus Christi newspaper and not the White House press corps at large or notify the public in a national way?"

Is there really any wonder why the Admin just doesn't trust these guys. I have little doubt with a press corp this arrogant and childish as first responders, the story would have started from the opposite extreme. That is, the headlines with NO reporting but an official press release would start something like, "Cheney kills hunting companion", and we'd still be served the same little petualant games they're playing with no regrets they got it all wrong.

Sue wrote:
"if you wanted to distract the MSM away from the Katrina reports"

Might be you are correct - but not
for reason implied.

Clarice had link at American Thinker earlier today to the
NYT's reporting all the fraud from
the "katrina victims" - more than
900,000 cases in the distribution of the $2,000.00 debit card issued under questionable circumstances.

Over $100,000.00 for one "address".

Gee, wonder if the hue and cry from
the MSM and their seaching for the starving "so poor, so black"...CNN'S Blitzer, now they will attack the incompetence of FEMA/BUSH.

These are the same people that don't want ID for voters. The same
people that claimed all these people who evacuated "forgot" their purses and wallets.

Any men out there who don't put the
wallet in their pocket first thing and take out last thing before bed?

And what are the chances of a woman fleeing who would leave her purse - her makeup?. 2ND
THING YOU WOULD GRAB AFTER THE KIDS! And woman tend to keep their
cell phones in their purses, so would want that too.
(And when you argue that the "poor"
don't have cell phones - you're wrong. The prepay cell phones have
made phones available to people that cannot get past credit problems to get land line.)

Why do we still expect any of the LEFT to think and argue in any
logical manner.

"Caller-Times Editor: "We Got the Story First... By Gaining the Trust of Our Sources"
Right Wing Dad e-mailed to draw my attention to this column by Corpus Christi Caller-Times Vice President and Editor Libby Averyt (free reg. req.):

Our own Caller-Times reporters were first with the story that Cheney had accidentally shot Austin attorney Harry Whittington during a quail hunt in Kenedy County.

We broke the national story at 1:48 p.m. Sunday with an e-mail alert and a story on our Web site Caller.com, 48 minutes before the Associated Press moved anything on the story and a full hour before CNN issued an e-mail alert.

We got the story the way dedicated journalists have tracked down news for years - through strong, consistent building of sources and good, old-fashioned reporting. [...]

Because of the Armstrong family's long-standing professional relationship with reporter Jaime Powell, Katharine Armstrong called Powell around 8 a.m. Sunday and left voice mail messages to return the call. Powell, who was in Austin, did not immediately receive the messages. [...]

Once in the newsroom, Powell spoke to Armstrong again and said she wanted to talk with the vice president, whom she had met last year at the funeral of Katharine Armstrong's father, Tobin. Cheney came to the phone and briefly spoke with Powell - so far his only public comment on the matter. [...]

"You had a relationship with my father," Armstrong told Powell. "You and I had a relationship and that relationship had grown stronger after my father's death, and my family was comfortable with calling the hometown newspaper."

Maybe it's the pride in my staff talking, but I believe the White House press corps is whining just a bit because this news came first through a local daily newspaper's Web site and not following a mass press briefing thousands of miles away from the accident.

We got the story first by consistently working hard and professionally and gaining the trust of our sources. And because we did, the rest of the world got the story, too.

"We knew we needed to make it public," Armstrong told Powell. "It was a private weekend hosted by a private family, and we were comfortable calling the hometown paper and you. I trust you."

Averyt is exactly right. Cheney and his friends, the Armstrongs, went through the local press because they did not trust the White House press corps to break the news in a professional and responsible manner. After all, would you trust this man with such a sensitive story? How about this guy?

I didn't ask for an apology. As you point out, I am not owed an apology. NRO suggested an "expression of regret" - and I agree with them.

Actually, if Mr. Cheney has any risk of legal jeopardy as a result of this incident and I were his attorney, I would advise him to do exactly what he is doing - keep his big mouth shut. One can't lie if one doesnt say anything. So perhaps there is a reason for the silence.

Clarice described the Texas post-dove hunt eating ritual perfectly. I am guessing my first encounter with that recipe was 30 years ago.

Wow. He caught 100 or more pellets? We're all lucky the guy is alive. If he had been much closer they'd have been picking up pieces. Man I bet he's sore.

And what the hell anyway? You mean - in addition to waiting 18 hours to tell the press - they didn't get an accurate pellet impact count? Surely the first thing they should have done is count exactly the number of pellet impacts so the report to the press was perfectly correct.

I think his PUBLIC silence is rooted in the firm belief that no matter what he says it will be wrong with the press. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I think he should just get out there, do what NRO says, dribble visene down his face and watch the MSM pee their pants.

...Just as surely as a fish wrapped in a bulletproof vest means 'Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes,' that shotgun blast to Whittington's face was meant to convey that I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby had better bite his tongue and forget about testifying against Cheney, his former boss, in the Valerie Plame spy case...

...That revelation had many questioning how low this administration would go to quash dissent.

"Looks like he got hit by more of the pattern than we thought - 1/3 to 1/4 of the shot in a 28 guage shell if the info we have been reading is correct - and now Mr Whittington has had a "small" heart attack caused by buckshot lodged in his heart."

"that shotgun blast to Whittington's face".

Dis is very unprofessional woik,he should'a use da Browning .50 like we told him.

Buckshot and birdshot are two very different animals. Birdshot was the ammo used.

The BIRDshop "migrated" to the heart after time, and was not lodged in the heart by the impact. Story here, along with the doctor's assessment that Mr. W will be just fine and suffer no repercussions. It was not a traditional heart attack, but that he suffered an atrial fibrillation... rather like a muscle irritation.

My only point re Iraq was the Cheney is of the school that you never admit a mistake - and there are examples-a-plenty of "inoperative" positions in this White House. Off the top of my head - WMD's, Katrina, the deficit, liberators, "getting to the bottom" of Plame.

Lou

Interestingly, a man in south texas just recently was charged with manslaughter after he killed an illegal immigrant he thought was a feral pig. It was an accident as well, but the shooter's name was Mendoza - not Cheney.

Nothing to hide? How does it get twisted into something to hide or not?
Anyway, Alan Simpson pointed out that the press doesn't like Cheney and he would have been a fool to think they would have handled this story well in any circumstance. As they are now proving.

People I'd want on my side: Alan Simpson, Curt Weldon (looney, but tenancious with Able Danger).

Lawrence O'Donnell is stirring them up that liquor was involved. His basis? He's seen the tailgate parties that republicans attend at football games on Saturday afternoon and don't tell him Cheney wasn't sipping the sauce. Kind of reminds me of election night when Susan Estrich smugly told Brit Hume to look at those voters still lined up in Florida. They didn't look like republicans to her. I mean seriously, these people want to be taken seriously? What do republicans look like? Do democrats not have tailgate parties where drinking is involved? How can you tell a democrat from a republican unless they tell you? Republicans really don't have horns. I know, I've checked a few to see.

Sue- ahh, so that's what he is trying to hide. Well, we should probably make it illegal for POTUS or VPOTUS to drink. Or hunt. They should stay in glass chambers for public viewing at all times.

O'Donnell, having spent time in the Clinton Whitehouse, is probably quite familiar with drinking and odd accidents (gregnormanstaircase). Didn't O'Donnell's West Wing cover alcholics and presidential accidents pretty sympathetically? Didn't even Josiah Bartlett keep some things from his beloved American public?

If Cheney was drinking and had this accident, that is a shame. And speculation is certainly O'Donnell's right. It is an odd story and it deserves coverage. But trying to turn it into another scandal is just tiresome, and the press turning it into a scandal about themselves is embarassing.

Msnbc and cnn keep running the presser with David Gregory's obnoxious questions. Kate O'Beirne says"msm got their feelings hurt because they were not informed first, so now it's payback time. I agree with TS-it's a temper tantrum because they didn't get their way! And as with children, ignoring them is the best remedy.

No doubt, and also tell them "get off McCellan's a**, you and I both know, no matter what answer we give you, you still have your predetermined story-line and your going to print what you want to print, so dispense with the mock outrage, please. It's stupid"

I too think Cheney should speak to the press. He should call them all in a room and announce he had a statement and would not be taking any questions and then simply say " you and the Pat Leahy you rode in on." then whirl and leave the room.

I think that Cheney should address Gregory. It would be a flippin' riot if Cheney made a personal call out

"and I just want to say to David Gregory, where are you David...oh there you are, David I just want to personally apologize to David, you took this especially hard, and I am so sorry we went to the local paper. I promise David, we meant no personal slight to you, and since we now know how to heart you take this kind of thing I assure you that the next time YOU DAVID, you will be the VERY FIRST person I call. I am so, from the bottom of my heart David, sorry this hurt you so"

I'm with Sue (I think Sue, I can't find the post now) and wish that Cheney's office would have put out a short press wire. Just because it seems like that should have happened, even if I don't agree that this is something we HAD TO KNOW.

There's also no doubt in my mind that whatever Cheney would have done, it wouldn't have been enough to stave off these ridiculous press speculations, because the speculations are so far afield they are coming out of thin air anyway.

Mike Powell (Newsweek or WaPo?) just told hard-hitting Larry King that the way this was handled makes Americans question how prepared the White House is to handle a true national emergency. Thankfully, Alan Simpson pointed out that this is not indicative of national emergency communications becauase...well, because it was not a national emergency.